Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Crispy Cheddar Crackers

It may be due to the sudden spell of soup weather, but I started thinking about crackers last week.

Before going GF I was a big supporter of saltine crackers. You could make one heck of a simple easy meal with a box of crispy, salty saltines! I remember when I was little and my dad would get home late from work, often he would make a meal out of tuna salad and saltines. When I was a teenager I figured out that you could melt shredded cheese over saltines for about 1 minute in the microwave and you had a quick easy snack! In my super thrifty days after college, soup and crackers was a hearty meal.

But lately, I hadn't really thought about crackers until I thought about oyster stew (will be posting this soon!), which is what my family always ate on Christmas Eve! And you can't have a big cheesy bowl of oyster stew without some crispy crackers to go with it!

I ran across a basic GF cracker recipe last weekend and decided to try it out. I made quite a few changes of course and eventually turned out a really tasty, crispy, cheesy cracker!

We shared the crackers with our neighbors Donna and James, who invited us over for a southwestern tortilla soup on Sunday afternoon. They really enjoyed the crackers as much as we did! It was a perfect accompaniment to the soup! (Donna, your soup rocks girl! We'll have to share that recipe soon!)

These crackers are very versatile. You could add more cheese and red pepper or cayenne pepper for spicy cheese straws. Or you can leave out the cheddar completely for a simple saltine. Try to roll the dough as thin as possible for a more crisp cracker.

Crispy Cheddar Crackers

2/3 cup rice flour

2/3 cup cornstarch

1/3 cup tapioca

1/3 cup ground flax seeds

1 tsp. kosher salt

1/4 cup butter

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 large egg

1/2 cup shredded cheese

1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

Directions:Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Thoroughly mix all flours together with ground flax seeds, salt, baking soda, and cayenne pepper. Cut in butter (as if you were making a pie dough) until very fine. Add milk, egg, and cheese. Knead thoroughly and then separate the dough into three balls. Roll each ball very thin on parchment paper. Cut into squares, rounds, or use cookie cutters to make shapes. Prick the crackers with a fork and then bake for 10-12 minutes or until VERY lightly browned. (DO NOT OVERBAKE!!) Sprinkle crackers with additional kosher salt if desired.

16 comments:

Those look really good! and I can't wait for the Oyster stew recipe! I love all kinds of seafood - I wish I lived closer to the coast. I'm glad that even though I won't be at my Mom's this Christmas, I will get my fill of fresh seafood.

I really miss a good cracker. I share the same love of saltines. I could sit all by myself and eat a pack just watching tv! And then there is the Cheeze-it obsession which I won't get into. Oh how I loved Cheeze-its.

I had been thinking about trying out some cracker recipes. I guess it wouldn't be any harder than making cookies. I always sounds hard to me! You have inspired me again Carrie!

mary frances -- I would substitute additional cornstarch or arrowroot starch for the tapioca flour. I think just using the cornstarch and rice flour would work fine! I like tapioca flour a lot. It seems to work wonders in cookies and pie crusts too! I've love for you to try these with just the cornstarch and see how it turns out! Thanks for commenting!!

I love crackers too however most commercial crackers have too much salt. The recipe for crackers I've made were too dry/starchy tasting(?). I will make these in the next few days. Can you taste the cayenne or is it only enough to give a mysterious taste?

Barbara -- You may want to leave out the cayenne pepper altogether or just put in 1/8-1/4 a tsp. When I don't use cayenne pepper, I just use a dash of annatto for to give the crackers little tiny specks of red seasoning! Doesn't affect the cheesy taste at all!

I made these this morning and will definitely keep this recipe on hand and make them again. It was hard to roll them thin enough. I'll put the middle ones back in the oven for 5 min after the last batch comes out. My oven wasn't hot enough for the first batch. I reduced the salt for my dietary requirements and added a tablespoon almond flour for extra brown flecks. I left out the cayenne. Thanks for the recipe! mine don't look as nice as yours!

Thanks for the recipe. I just found your blog from SparkPeople and made these crackers today. The cayenne just gave them a little bite at the end, no real heat. My son, who is the one who can't have gluten, loves carbs so theses were a real treat for him. I brushed a tiny bit of butter on them after baking to make the extra salt stick. Very yummy and easy! WIll definitely make these again.